Louisiana Kroger closes

Louisiana, MO (KSDK) - Chances are, your grocery store is just a few minutes from where you live.

What if you had to drive more than 20 miles round trip for your groceries?

Louisiana, Missouri is about 90 miles northwest of St. Louis. That's where Kroger went out of business, and it's a big deal to the people who used to shop there.

The official closing day for the only grocery store in Louisiana was supposed to be Saturday, October 27, but the signs in the windows tell a different story.

The lights are on, but nobody's home at Kroger after it closed this week.

The customers care a lot.

"Not too happy. Not happy at all. Two reasons: one, only store in town. And the other one, I'm the manager down at Orsons down here, and seeing our neighbor leave leaves us kind of sad," said Kirk Heil.

The Kroger shutdown means the closest full service grocery store is 11 miles away. Tto fill up your grocery cart, you've got to jump in your car, head down Highway 54 to Bowling Green to shop at the IGA or Walmart, a 22 mile round trip.

"You're increasing your monthly expenses by $120 a month in gas alone if you live here in town and have to go somewhere else to shop," said Heil.

"With the high price of gasoline it's going to be a hassle for everybody, but again, for the people who don't drive, it's really going to be difficult," said Gary Richardson.

"It's sad to me. I'm thinking about the employees losing their jobs. We have several friends that lost their jobs," said Joe Elliot.

Kroger employed more than 50 people in Louisiana. Some of them will transfer to the Kroger in Troy. The rest will be looking for work.